World Snooker Championship latest: Shaun Murphy beats Kyren Wilson 17-12
Fourth Session: A storming victory for Murphy
Shaun Murphy reeled off five frames in a row to complete a 17-12 victory over Kyren Wilson and reach his first World Championship final since 2015.
Having trailed 10-4 at one point in the match, Murphy resumed at 12-12 and played near-faultless snooker to get over the line with five consecutive breaks over 50.
An opening 78 was enough to put him in front for the first time since he won the opening frame of the match, and an unfortunate in-off from Wilson in the next enabled Murphy to go further in front with a knock of 91.
Wilson paid a heavy price for a simple missed black in the next as Murphy responded with a 117 to go 15-12 up, then 77 to move one frame from victory at the mid-session interval.
After an extended period of safety play, Murphy seized his first opportunity with a break of 58 which would ultimately prove enough to wrap up a stunning win.
Third Session: Murphy draws level
The fired-up former champion, who trailed 10-4 at one stage in the match, clawed his way back to 12-12 ahead of Saturday evening’s conclusion.
Murphy had punched the air in delight after winning the final two frames of Friday afternoon’s session to haul his deficit back to four frames and give himself hope of a recovery.
And although Wilson immediately extended his advantage back to five, Murphy gradually gained the upper hand when play resumed on Saturday and marked a major turning point when he potted a long black to pull back to 11-9.
Once again Murphy betrayed his emotions as he headed for the mid-session interval, and although Wilson took the next to go 12-9, breaks of 120 and 76 helped Murphy establish parity in their best-of-33 encounter.
Second session: Murphy begins fightback
Shaun Murphy won the last two frames of the day to give himself a glimmer of hope in his quest to reach his first World Snooker Championship final in six years.
Murphy had looked set to leave himself an insurmountable challenge heading into Saturday’s concluding sessions after opponent Kyren Wilson turned a 6-2 overnight advantage into a 10-4 lead.
But a gutsy fightback from the 2005 champion, culminating in an 86 clearance in the 16th frame, reduced the arrears to 10-6 and gave last year’s beaten finalist Wilson something to think about.
A coolly-taken 69 break from Wilson in the opening frame of the day suggested it would be business as usual but he relinquished the 10th frame in remarkable fashion by giving away 53 points in fouls after being snookered behind the blue.
Wilson re-established his five-frame advantage but Murphy showed signs of stirring with a superb break of 88 prior to the interval.
Wilson took the next two frames, the second with a 131 total clearance, to go six frames clear but it was the 29-year-old who faltered, spurning strong chances in each of the last two frames of the day.
Having snookered himself on a red on a break on 45, Murphy fired his fine clearance to complete the session, leaving the arena with a fist-pump which suggests he still believes he can salvage their best-of-33-frames encounter.
First session: Wilson makes early running
Kyren Wilson produced a stellar display to take command of his World Snooker Championship semi-final against Shaun Murphy and lead 6-2 after the opening session.
Wilson, the runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan in last year’s tournament at the Crucible, posted three century breaks and at one stage delivered 248 unanswered points to open up a four-frame lead.
Murphy, whose defence was unusually slack, could have ended the evening with a 5-3 deficit after a rare Wilson error let him in but he missed a crucial red into the centre pocket and the 2005 champion will have to improve in Friday’s second session if he is to get back into the match.
After Murphy won the opening frame Wilson got into his groove, posting a fine 110 in the third frame.
Murphy was stuck to his seat as back-to-back centuries in frames five and six, breaks of 121 and 127, put Wilson 5-1 up and looking impossible to stop.
But Murphy stopped the rot with a gritty half-century break and should have stolen the final frame of the evening after Wilson, on the way to another century, fouled – but a clearance attempt ended when he missed the penultimate red into the middle pocket.
The quality of snooker on show was a big contrast to the first semi-final, which was dominated by complaints over the table, with ‘soft cushions’ and a possibly defective cue ball blamed for some scrappy early play at the Crucible.